


Ink is Thicker Than Water

by Love_for_the_World



Category: Bendy and the Ink Machine
Genre: I fell into this fandom sooo, M/M, Probably Violence, idk - Freeform, might add tags later?, most probably, other characters too but not sure how much yet, tags and warning and whatnot might change, this is going to be a ride cause I don't know where it's going yet, who knows at this point - Freeform, yeah - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-13
Updated: 2018-11-19
Packaged: 2019-08-23 07:55:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16614953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Love_for_the_World/pseuds/Love_for_the_World
Summary: This is mostly a rewrite of the game itself with some divergence in the later parts of the game.Henry, the original creator and animator of the darling dancing devil Bendy, receives a letter from his old friend and the owner of the studios, Joey Drew. The letter leads Henry back to the seemingly abandoned studio but with no Joey in sight. It's when Henry tries to search for Joey and the mysterious thing he claimed to need to show Henry that the shadows begin to move, and the ink begins to run. Henry ends up in a twisted reality with more questions than answers as he's left to fight sentient ink, monstrous figures and his own creations. And it only gets more twisted as his very own creation seems to have come alive and become a monster as well.As Henry searches for a new exit the lines get even more crossed and his perspective changes as well, especially when it seems that the drawings come to life have both a good and bad version. That must mean there is a good Bendy somewhere in the endless studio as well, right?





	1. Prologue: The Letter

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so, first off this is like the first fanfiction I have written in YEARS, like omg. And idk, this fandom just kinda sucked me in from the great game and this killer video that my friend showed me that I became OBSESSED with; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iV9fxNi46zU. So yeah, now it's a fanfic, and warnings and rating will change, butting T now because there is bound to at least be some violence and such, I will put warnings with the chapters if there is anything particularly rough but, uh, yeah. I think that's it for now, obvious to say that Bendy and the Ink Machine and all its characters do not belong to me. And this chapter will be short because it is a prologue more than anything, the actual chapters should be much longer, hopefully. Also, I will do my best to be consistent with updating between work and school.

When Henry received the short letter from his old friend Joey Drew he was surprised to say the least. Not only had they not spoken in thirty years, but they hadn’t left on the best of terms either. After their explosive fight Henry had no intentions of ever returning to the studio, he didn’t even know it was still standing to be honest. When Henry had left he tried to put everything behind him, out of mind. No more drawings, no more Joey, Sammy, Boris, Alice, and no more Bendy. That era of his life was meant to stay in the past, forgotten and in the shadows with the mistakes both men had made. 

The people forgot Bendy and his friends, and so Henry had tried to as well. But there is only so much a person can forget about their own creation. For Henry could never really forget about his dear characters, the silly cartoons, his coworkers, especially not Bendy. His Darling Devil. The Dancing Demon. He was his pride and joy and nothing had made Henry happier than when he was creating sketches and skits for the adorable character. 

So, no, Henry had never  _ really  _ forgotten, no matter how hard he had tried to move on from his time at Joey Drew Studios. It just always felt like a part of him had been left behind when he walked out of that studio for good. A part that was never able to be filled no matter how hard he tried. So when the letter came in the mail Henry was shocked, but a part of him, a small part he immediately tried to bury, was relieved with the opportunity to go back. To be  _ invited _ back. So it was no question. He packed a bag and prepared to leave the very next day. 

Reaching the studio it was easy to tell that the place had been abandoned, and for a long time, but Henry pushed on anyway. Entering The rundown entrance he spoke to himself, “Alright Joey, I’m here. Let’s see if we can find what you wanted me to see.”


	2. Chapter 1: Welcome Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, I'm back! I tried to update this fast because the prologue was so short, and this one is a decent length, but a lot of this is still just the game. There really won't be any major changes or dialogue until characters get involved (which should be soon!) but yeah. Tried to keep it interesting enough with it being mostly description. And thanks for those of you who are already commenting and kudoing the story!

“Alright Joey, I’m here. Let’s see if we can find what you wanted me to see.”

The place was really worn down. Cracks in the boards and ink covering many surfaces. But it was no doubt the same old studio from thirty years ago. Walking around the abandoned place brought back many memories for Henry; especially finding his old desk in the lone corner, with walls and floor covered with sketches and story ideas. There was even a small sketch of Bendy’s head still on the desk, as if it were still waiting for the artist to return and finish. Henry muttered to himself as he looked over the papers surrounding him with a bittersweet taste, “Here’s my old desk. I’ve wasted so much time in this chair.”

Henry remembered how he would spend hours working at his desk, coming up with idea after idea, sketching draft after draft until he felt he could be satisfied with them. He would also often find refuge at his desk when he and Joey were arguing, because no one was allowed to bother him when he was in the middle of his work. Plus no one had wanted to get Henry angrier than he already was since it took a lot to get him angry in the first place. No one had ever quite been able to make Henry angry like Joey could. Many people said they were too similar, some said too different, but they were the best of friends nonetheless.

Henry was reminiscing about a particularly bad fight, and he had stayed in his corner for a solid five hours straight before anyone saw him resurface, when he heard what sounded like the creak of floorboards. Turning he saw nothing but a Bendy cutout.

“Hello? Joey is that you?” When there was no answer he decided to continue looking around. Exploring more he ended up coming to a new room with only one thing in it, Joey’s infamous Ink Machine. Henry couldn’t remember the machine ever really working, or even what its purpose was.

“So this is the Ink Machine. Wonder how you turn it on.” It was obvious the machine had been used recently because there was fresh ink all around the room and directly under the opening of the machine, but still no Joey in sight so Henry decided to search for a way to turn the machine one. Maybe then he would show up.

So Henry began his search. He followed pipes and ink to another room that had what seemed to be the power to the machine. But there were also six pedestals in the room with pictures of different objects behind them.

“Alright, so how do I get this to work?” It seemed that he needed to find the objects the turn it on. _Joy_ , Henry thought, _a scavenger hunt_. And then he left to find the objects. He needed a jar of ink, a gear, a wrench, an old music record, a books called The Illusions of Living, and a plushy of Bendy.

So Henry began his search again, this time with a more clear objective; find the objects in the pictures to turn on the machine. When he left the room there was suddenly one of the Bendy cutouts in the middle of the hallway. It nearly gave Henry a heart attack when he saw it, “Who put this here?” He asked himself when his heart calmed. Looking around he realized a hallway behind the cutout that he had failed to go down before. As he got closer he felt a bad feeling well inside him, and when he saw what was in the room he felt like he was going to be _sick_.

“Oh my god. Joey, what were you doing?” Henry stared in horror at the open chest of what appeared to be one of the studio's most beloved characters, Boris. It looked like an operating table that he was strapped to, as he was surrounded by more ink with his ribs exposed.

Henry had no clue what had happened since he left, nothing like this had been going on when he did, at least, not that he knew of. He was too horrified by what he was seeing so he left to continue his search for the six objects in different parts of the studio.

Finding them was very much like a scavenger hunt, only there were no clues to help him find them. He had scoured the entire studio. He found the old viewing room, still with the projector and reels ready to play and seats ready to be filled. Behind the projector was a button with the word flow on it. _I wonder what this does?_ Henry thought to himself, but when he tried to press it nothing happened. He shrugged and continued on. While looking around he even found an old voice recording of, what sounded like, Wally Franks. He had been the handyman around the place, makes sense why he would hate for the pipes to keep bursting. The audio logs were something the crew had liked to do while working there, they were personal and private, and no one was just allowed to hear another person's log, which was why Henry was confused that Wally’s was just lying around.

Then there was another room, larger than most of the others, but that wasn’t the concerning part. No, what was concerning was the fact that a projector was on at the back of the room. There wasn’t anything playing, but Henry now had absolutely no doubt that someone else must be here. And they had to be fucking with him. Turning to leave he saw the book he needed propped against one of the legs of a work table.

After that the hunt became easier. The doll had been on a shelf near his desk. The record was in a corner of one of the hallways. The ink was back on a shelf in the room with Boris’ corps, he hated going back in there but he felt that he should check since he hadn’t been in the right mindset before. And the wrench and gear were around the studio in, fortunately, obvious spots.

“OK! That is all of them! I just need to get the ink flowing somehow. Should be a switch around here somewhere. Then I can start up the main power.” The power was still not working in the pedestal room, the sign was saying the pressure was low. Henry gave a sigh and thought for a minute, then he remembered the button from the old viewing room that said flow, maybe that was it!

Relieved at a possible solution, Henry left to go back to the room. “Jesus,” he cursed when _another_ Bendy cutout popped up from around the corner, but when he circles it there was no one but the cutout lying against the wall. Someone was _definitely_ here, and they apparently wanted Henry to have a heart attack! This was further confirmed when he went into the room and the projection suddenly clicked to life and a dancing Bendy appeared on the screen, but again, no one was there. _Maybe the place is haunted_ , Henry gave a nervous chuckle at his own thought and went to press the button. Thankfully it worked, and so he when back again to the other room to restore the power. When the switch said running and the ink could be heard flowing he went to go to the Ink Machine.

Everything seemed to be going well, until he saw the room. It was _boarded up_! As if he hadn’t been in there only minutes ago during his search. Reluctantly Henry decided that he should at least look into the room to see if maybe someone was there; though, with how things have been going, he seriously doubted he would see anyone. So Henry crept closer with bated breath.

No further than a hair's breadth away did a large inky monster with a sinister smile and ink covered face jump out at him with a yell! Henry screamed as he jumped back from the monster behind the boards! Ink began to cascade down the walls and coat the floor with the slick and sticky substance. It blocked hallways and nearly caused him to slip a couple times as he ran back to the exit of the building.

“I’m getting the hell out of here!” He shouted as he ran.

Only steps away from freedom and the floor beneath him completely gave way and he fell down through to the studio’s basement. Covered with ink and a pounding heart he decided to sit for a second to regain his breath.

“What the heck is this?” He was in a room much like the ones upstairs, _Must be the basement_ , Henry thought to himself as he stood. He was lucky that the fall wasn’t that far so he didn’t seem to be injured. He looked around the room and saw a message written with ink on the wall, it said **_THE CREATOR LIED TO US_** , that didn't sound good. But who exactly was us? Turning, Henry saw a doorway that was boarded up, but luckily there was an ax on the wall.

“This will definitely come in handy.” He grabbed the ax and used it to get through the door. He was determined to find a new exit and get the hell out of this place before he ran into that monster, or any other one, again. He also wondered to himself if it had been that creature that was messing with his head the entire time he was up there. He let his mind ponder that and the situation as he cleared the hallway of boards.

Turning down the only way possible he stopped dead at what he saw in the room. The room was small and it had a few chairs in it. That was the fine part. But it was the coffins and the freaking demon summoning circle made from ink and surrounded by candles that was freaking Henry out.

The entire _building_ seemed to begin shaking as he neared the room, it only got worse when he entered. With only a step in he fainted. Dropping his ax and falling to the floor he lost consciousness. But not before he saw a dark figure inch closer out of the shadows. The monster from upstairs, but as everything began to turn black Henry couldn’t help but feel something in that frozen smile seemed familiar.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alrighty then, so that was the first chapter, I hope to get the second one up soon because I don't have any actual classes most of this week because of Thanksgiving, so we'll see. I hope you like the story and continue to stay with me! It will be a ride my dudes, trust me. And feel free to let me know if you see any mistakes or just want to comment. They are always appreciated <3  
> Any btw, a lot of my chapter titles are probably going to be from the video I mentioned before lol

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah that was pretty short, but I think it's a good headway into the first chapter of the game and story!


End file.
